Artemicia
'''Artemicia' is the Goddess of Healing, daughter of Nergal, mother of Leon Alcibiates, and patron deity of the Clergy of Artemicia. Ironically, she generally sides with her father and the forces of Darkness despite her title. She poisoned Leon in the Second Age and stole Dawn in the Third Age from Schuldich Cedheros. Since then she's been actively opposing the Grand Alliance although few mortals are actually aware of her amoral nature. Biography Early Years Artemicia was born as the daughter of Nergal before the War of the Andain and helped her father in the conflict. Despite being the Goddess of Healing, she had a rather amoral, self-centered point of view and cared little for mortals or even fellow gods. However, when the Chaos War began and Cardia spread the belief that other gods didn't exist, Artemicia became downright angry at Cardia and didn't lift a finger in the following years even when Jemuel began the devastating Cardian War which killed hundreds of Cardia's followers. The goddess had numerous affairs over thousands of years and gave birth to children who would become Andain. During the Ofuchi Usurpation period, one of her demigod children, Leon Alcibiates, wished to talk to her and prayed for her help when he was ambushed by bandits. Artemicia appeared in the flesh and saved Leon by driving the bandits away but quickly showed her true colours to him. She didn't like that Leon had bothered her for such trivial matters and punished him by poisoning his very soul with her power, telling him that she would remove the poison only after Leon had paid his debt to her. What Artemicia did in the ensuing years is unknown. She didn't seem to actively participate in the Arawn Losstarot War when all the Andain perished. After the Explosion, gods seemed to withdraw from public eye, and this would last for almost a millennium. Distreyd Era Stirrings of Chaos Artemicia remained in the background until Cardia's plans for the twin blades Dawn and Dusk made her act in 1000 AE. When she sensed that Cardia had sent Schuldich Cedheros to Libaterra to deliver Dawn to either Axikasha Keiran or Shyla Locken, she directly intervened. Even when Cardia possessed Schuldich and tried to threaten Artemicia with death, Artemicia didn't care; she wanted to teach Cardia a lesson, and she delivered on that promise. As she slammed her godfist into Schuldich's body, the pain spread over to Cardia who felt pain for the first time in his life through his host's body. Schuldich perished in the fight, and Cardia's essence fled back to the High Plane. The goddess then stole Dawn right in front of Ax and Shyla, not knowing which one the blade was meant for but still delighting in the opportunity to ruin whatever Cardia had had in mind for the blade. She delivered the blade to her own high cleric Adela al-Saif's safekeeping and instructed her to find a suitable wielder for it, who eventually turned out to be Varalia Earthhaven. Artemicia later talked with her father Nergal and inquired about his plans. Nergal remained secretive for the most part and derided Artemicia for appearing in the flesh instead of using a host, and Artemicia insulted her father for being a coward. They eventually settled their differences, and Artemicia suggested that Nergal should replace his weak high cleric Fastholf d'Armagnac with a more powerful one, a general named Yoshimuriko, a plan which Nergal ended up following. A Change of Plans Artemicia didn't appear in the flesh for a while as the Great War raged between Yamato and the Grand Alliance. She did have a few discussions with Nergal about the roles Kareth d'Zarnagon and Refan d'Zarnagon would play in releasing Mardük from the prison he had been sealed in since the end of the Chaos War. She and Nergal eventually plotted a turn of events which would ensure Mardük's release, and Mardük arrived with his demons to aid the Forces of Darkness during the final battle of the war. An unexpected turn of events changed Artemicia's plans, however. A new foe, the Godslayer, appeared out of the blue and devoured both Cardia and Mardük, which made the demons run amok and began the Cataclysm which reshaped the Land of the Living. Artemicia and the remaining gods fled from the beast which later settled into Myridia. The gods would lie low for a while, pondering what to make of this new threat to their kind. Artemicia still kept on scheming, however, and made sure her high cleric Adela took over the throne of the Sultanate of Karaganda which would spread Artemicia's faith and strengthen her power base. Godslayer Era A Game of Deception Tears of the Sun The Winds of Wrath Sowing Season Day of the Damned Aliases and Nicknames ; Goddess of Healing : Her title. ; Ito : Also known as Goddess of the Watchful Eye, this is what she's called among the Fraquid. Appearance Her physical form can change depending on who's looking at her. When Leon saw her, she was blade-slender, and posessed delicate features that most men would describe as beautiful. Her hair was soft and hazelnut brown, but her ice-blue eyes held no softness whatsoever. Personality and Traits Capricious, manipulative, cruel. Powers and Abilities As the goddess of healing, she is capable of healing pretty much every ailment but can also infect people with such poisons to which there are no cure, such as the one he infected Leon with. She is also a capable warrior with her divine senses. Relationships Adela al-Saif Adela is Artemicia's current high cleric. Although Adela is completely devoted to her patron deity, Artemicia is less enthusiastic about their relationship although she sees Adela as a useful and powerful servant. Axikasha Keiran Artemicia sees Ax as nothing but a pawn of the Gods of Light and sees her unfit to wield Dawn. Ax thinks Artemicia is a manipulative bitch who doesn't deserve anyone's respect. Cardia Artemicia hated Cardia's guts, particularly because Cardia told his followers that the other gods didn't exist. She delighted in making Cardia feel pain and didn't shed a tear when the Godslayer devoured Cardia. Hephaestus Artemicia can't stand Hephaestus who is Cardia's brother. The two gods have been opposing each other's schemes for a while because their views on mortals differ radically: Artemicia sees mortals as pawns whereas Hephaestus sees them as a great asset, and Hephaestus even directly intervened to aid the Alliance by luring Artemicia away from Vanna. The two gods have briefly collaborated, however, to capture Hivena and Nyanna. Leon Alcibiates Artemicia holds Leon in little esteem, seeing him as a pathetic weakling. She doesn't actively seek to kill him, but she won't bother to save him anymore either unless Leon compensates well in return. Leon likewise doesn't like Artemicia either, seeing her as nothing more than a mockery of a good mother. Nergal Artemicia is Nergal's daughter and quite loyal to him to an extent (because bloodshed in war inevitably leads to hundreds of injured who are in need of healing). However, she won't mind accusing him of being a coward, and she feels Nergal should act more directly in world affairs instead of using various pawns to do his bidding. Nergal sees his daughter as too reckless and often asks her to be patient. Shakkan Artemicia is Shakkan's niece but holds him in little regard because he has opposed her and Nergal's plans in the past. The two gods don't care for each other, particularly now that their followers have been fighting against each other. Shyla Locken As with Ax, Artemicia saw Shyla as nothing more than an unfit wielder of Dawn. She didn't mind the suffering of the young queen's people and delighted in the fact that Nergal would cause such harm to Shyla's beloved kingdom and thus harm indirectly the soul of one of the potential wielders of Dawn. Shyla was shocked by the goddess's appearance and didn't hold her in high regard after the incident in the temple. See also *Adela al-Saif *Clergy of Artemicia *Dawn *God *Leon Alcibiates *Schuldich Cedheros Category:Characters Category:Clergy of Artemicia Category:First Age Category:Gods Category:High Plane Category:Second Age Category:Third Age